Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board First to Pilot with Youth Sports Concussion Program
- Local Catholic Schools will Participate in Baseline Screen -
December 15, 2011 – Students at Immaculate Conception, St. Teresa and St. Joseph, Douro,Catholic elementary schools will be the firstschools to participate in the Youth Sports Concussion Program with Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School coming on board as the very first secondary school. As part of the program, free baseline screenings are being provided to students age 10 right through until high school graduation that will be administered at the school by the Youth Sports Concussion Program. The assessment is an on-line 8 minute Computerized Cognitive Assessment Tool (CCAT) and will create a baseline measurement which captures the students cognitive functioning when the brain is healthy. Repeating the same test after injury will assist healthcare providers in clinical diagnosis and treatment plans. Free baseline previews are available at www.yscp.ca
“We are pleased to participate in this important partnership involving our students, their families, our schools and Primary Health Care Services of Peterborough,” says Greg Reeves, Director of Education for the Catholic District School Board. “The Youth Sports Concussion Program will focus attention on the issue of concussion and better management of risk in young athletes, and that is important. We are fully supportive of this initiative and think it’s the right thing to do to help protect youth in our Catholic schools.”
“It’s important for parents to understand that the baseline CCAT is not an IQ or performance based test. It has no value other than to take a snapshot of the brains’ functioning pre-injury and is as unique as a finger print,” said Victoria Steeves, Student Achievement Consultant for the Catholic Board. “Each school will have an assembly to explain the program. Detailswill be announced in the school newsletter and parents will beinvited to attend. Information packages and parental consent forms will be sent home and parents are encouraged to visit the Youth Sports Concussion website at www.yscp.ca or discuss the program with their school Principal at any time.”
The Youth Sports Concussion Program has been created to develop and implement best practices in the assessment, treatment and prevention of concussions in youth from the ages of 10 right through until high school graduation, reaching more than 15,000 students across the city and county of Peterborough. The program, the first of its kind in Canada, is a collaboration between primary care providers and specialists and will establish standardized guidelines for concussion management for all healthcare providers across the 5 Peterborough Networked Family Health Teams. The program is being administered by Primary Health Care Services of Peterborough in partnership with Dr. Derek Krete and baseline screens are being provided completely free of charge thanks to fundraising efforts of the Greater Peterborough Health Services Foundation.
“Not only have we been able to standardize guidelines for concussion management across our teams, but we have been able to provide further education for our physicians and nurse practitioners and create resource tools to support concussion management,” said Dr. Don Harterre, Physician Lead, Primary Health Care Services of Peterborough. “We feel another important tool is to have a baseline for all students, so that if they sustain an injury, be it from sports or any other activity, we have objective information specific to that individual. This will help us to not only inform clinical decisions, but to ensure that the student doesn’t return to school sports or recreation activities before they have had a chance to heal.”
A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury caused by a hit, bump or jolt to the head or body and can occur without loss of consciousness. Sports related concussions occur in the greatest frequency in the pediatric and young adult age ranges and recovery takes longer in these age groups. All concussions should be taken seriously. For signs and symptoms of a concussion and further information, please visit www.yscp.ca
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